8 Horror Movie Re-Castings That Were TERRIBLE

5. Henry Thomas - Jack Torrance (Doctor Sleep)

The Shining
Warner Bros.

It was a bold strategy to recast one of the most iconic horror movie roles, so you've got to give director Mike Flanagan credit for this one. However, ambition only gets you so far, and replacing Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance is still a dumb move.

As a sequel to The Shining, Doctor Sleep was always going to feature returning characters and locations from the original, however nobody expected to see the entire Torrance family recast with actors re-enacting scenes from Kubrick's original.

Of course, it was Henry Thomas who received the short end of the stick, tasked with stepping into the shoes of Jack Torrance. He has a valiant effort too, it's just that his inclusion is so distracting.

The filmmakers have tried their best to make him look and sound as close to Jack Nicholson as possible, but it's impossible to not be taken out of the movie by this wonky impersonation.

Anything - whether it was digital de-aging, a complete CGI composite or a more well known actor stepping into the role - would have no doubt caused issues, but you can't help but think the filmmakers decided on the worst option here.

Contributor

Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.